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The poem is describing Toa

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The poem is about how Singapore is being described as fast-paced growing and shaped. The writer wrote the poem with thoughts of wanting to change the routine of individuals living in Singapore while maintaining Singapore's originality.

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How do I colour my city

with creatures busy in living?

Do I walk along as if on an errand

seeking a lotus pond afloat with enlightenment?

Do I go in search of orchid petals

to unfurl whorls for hybrid pollens?

Do I hurry along street plans and measure landuse

to draw lines and shapes for my canvas?

My city has no mountain ranges

to be unscrolled broadened brownness,

neither has she bushfires nor epic tragedies

but her sky can be

as dry and distant as a desert’s.

My city has campaigns, policies and long-term planning,

has a reputation for drivenness

of a small country,

has shopping malls and more…

Is my canvas

a surrealscape of

a slim city slowly coated with melting cheese

where there are clowns with broken legs,

jugglers balancing on shaky stakes,

children spinning on top of whales

growing up to be adults with briefcases

on top of flying clocks?

I want to hiss a snake out of a kettle,

drink it like coffee as the steam scatters,

that I may

frame with passing beatitude and mosaic wisdom,

my city, my canvas.

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A Brief History of Toa Payoh by Koh Buck Song

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A Brief History of Toa Payoh by Koh Buck Song

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they say
there is no history
made in Toa Payoh,
that Economy, Polity, State
are major tenants
in Significance’s estate

but this being,
whose amniotic fluids,
swamp and swill,
were channelled seaward
through monsoon drains,
instant rivers,
was once a brave new world
of giant pigeonholes sky-looking,
rigid under morning sun,
a pioneer in its time,
so should not earliness and vision
receive, as in Sentosa’s museum,
decorum, grace
and privilege of place

the pride and self-sufficiency
of early settlers
eclipsed
town centre, bus termini, the first SEAP Games,
the emporium’s sacks of fragrant rice,
children’s playgrounds, the garden’s lake and tower,
the Queen’s lookout
excite no more
and the children of Toa Payoh
are the mothers and fathers
of Woodlands, Pasir Ris,
distant orbits of the new satellites
this town delivered so fast,
labour pains
now claim a second strike:
this time, cranes and the wrecker's ball
strip the old town
colonise once more
this, one of Modernisation's
first ports of call

in our History's eye,
growth is so swift
rebirth also
gets short shrift

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(1992) A brief history of Toa Payoh and other Poems

(199) Interview with Professor Tommy Koh in The Arts in Singapore

(2001) The Worth of Wonder

(2005) How not to make money : Inside stories from Singapore's Commercial Affairs Departnment

(2012) Perpetual Spring : Singapore's Gardens By The Bay

etc

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-Mason Fellow & earned a master's degree in public administration

-Studied leadership at Mennedy School & Harvard Business School under Ronald Heifetz and Warren Bennis

-Literary editor, political and chief parliament commentator, arts and features supervisor and assistant editor of a weekly world affairs section with the Straits Times from 1988 to 1999

-His regular opinion column, Monday with Koh Buck Song, ran for over 10 years

-Launched & anchored the column "This Week in Politics"

-Contributing columnist based in the USA for the SG newspaper "Today" on current affairs relating to the USA and SG from 2003-2004

-Worked under Singapore Economic Development Board from 1993 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005 in strategic planning and marketing & corporate communications

-Authored and edited more than 20 books

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-writer

-editor

-consultant in branding

-communication strategy and corporate social responsibility in SG

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Born : 1963

Schools : University of Cambridge

University of London

John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University

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Poetry anthologies that have included her poems :

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Poetry anthologies that have included her poems :

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No other city : The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry

Memories and Desires : A poetic history of Singapore and Love gathers all : The Phillipines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry

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Singa, the journal for literature and arts in SG

-Silverkris

-The Straits Times Newspaper

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Her poems have been featured in collections

-Words for the 25th Readings by Singapore writers

-Singapore : places, poems , paintings

-Journey : Words

-Home and Nations and Rythms : A Singaporean Millennial Anthology of Poetry

She is one of the editors of literary website Quarterly Literary Review Singapore

Together with Paul Tan, she took over the organisation and running of the Forum readings in 1997

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Heng Siok Tian was born in the year 1963 .She has received degrees in Literature from NUS in 1986, and Master of Science in Information Studies from NTU. She started to write in NUS and won the first prize in the 1985/86 NUS Poetry Competition. After that, she started teaching at a school.